High Sierra Trail Day 1

Day One- Trailhead Crescent Meadow to Bearpaw Meadow:

July 21, 2017

My parents took us to the trailhead 7:15, through the familiar General's Highway and tiny road that leads to Crescent Meadow and Moro Rock. As we made final preparations, like pit toilet stops, sunscreen, & deet, my father handed us the "rope". For some reason, family and friends felt we needed a rope. Their explanations were not fact or experienced based, so we had declined multiple times. However, as we began putting our packs on, my father insisted we take the rope he bought for us - there was no denying it.

We knew this part to some degree; although, the year we hiked it was 2011 and our entry date was late June. This meant our previous experience had been with very high water and snowfields near Bearpaw meadow. Still, we knew the terrain and the elevation losses and gains, along with familiarity with the campground logistics.

Merhten Creek

The fire from Mariposa County, presumably, inhibited many of the great views experienced on this

Smoke towards the valley/Moro Rock

part of the hike. Once we were at Mehrten, things began to improve. While Mehrten was a questionable crossing with a pack last trip, it was quite an easy creek to cross this time around. We lunched on the other side and soaked our hot, swollen feet in the cold snowmelt. One guy was hiking barefoot in the water and nearly slipped to his death as he hit slick rock and slid about 10 feet. Fortunately, we'd not see this guy and his friends again after Bearpaw. Our lunch of Wheat Thins, summer sausage, and cheese was easily eaten, as our bodies were not really challenged other than the 40+ pounds. I remembered a lot of ascent and descent, and that we would descend considerably into the Buck creek/canyon crossing (a very welcome bridge, BTW), and that the roughest section would be the climb to Bearpaw. All in all, this would be an easy 10+ miles to transition our bodies to more difficulties that might lie ahead. One lady warned us (albeit unnecessarily) that it would be longer than expected to climb to Bearpaw once leaving Buck. I appreciated the honesty which helped us mentally prepare for a longer hike rather than a shorter one. We arrived fairly early, making the evening relaxing and simple. Dinner was the "thanksgiving meal" along with apple crisp for dessert.

Daughter and I with Great Western Divide in background

Buck Creek/Canyon

Bearpaw is a common destination, which makes it a
highly used and honestly, undesirable campground. There are two outhouses, not exactly preferable to a make-shift woods toilet, but very necessary for the amount of visitors that frequent the area. (They are nothing like the ones in Little Yosemite Valley, which seem more luxurious than any other in the backcountry I have experienced.)  Water is available from a faucet, but must still be treated. The high sierra camp lay on the other side of the "meadow", and I surmised we might have bear visitors in the night. With so many people, and multiple bear storage lockers, and a neighboring meadow, it seemed ripe for bear visititation.  We noticed deer in the evening, and even in the middle of the night during a trip to the outhouse. Sure enough, the next morning, there was a bear that walked by our tent (no rainfly due to the warmth of the evening) and huffed loudly as he sniffed the bear locker, as if to inform us of his disgust that we had prevented him an easy meal. He made his way to the meadow, and began eating "good" bear food; I was thankful that the other members of campground were also diligent about their food storage.

I digress now, to a moment on the trail, just before Mehrten creek, where we encountered a couple. The father carried a baby in front and a large pack in back, along with an umbrella to shade the youngster. The mother carried a considerable pack as well; they looked to be in shape and experienced. He asked our destination, and stated he had just come from Hamilton Lakes (which we would pass through our second day). He informed us of an ice "river" that was, in his opinion, impassable without significant experience with crampons and an ice axe. While I have had one mountaineering class that included crampons and self arrest techniques, I am by no means proficient at it nor was my BF and my daughter. In fact, we decided not to carry these tools as we felt something this technical was probably not something we should attempt. Apparently, there *was* an ice tunnel, but it had partially collapsed; meaning, one would have to go over the ice river/field/flow, which lay at a 45 degree angle. He noted a southern route that would bypass the ice, but that there would most likely still be snow fields (we're okay with that), and the route would add 1/2 or more of a day to our trek. Also, it would be a significant difference in elevation drop/gain. We decided to check with the ranger at Bearpaw and gather information from other hikers along the route.

Post creek crossing (Nine Mile Creek)

The problem with seeking advice  from the many hikers at Bearpaw is that their destination is the High Sierra Camp. This means they are most likely staying locally with shelter and food provided, and are not through hikers. We spoke to the park aide, who also spoke to the ranger, and we were advised that most people were unable to get through Kaweah Gap due to the ice collapse. They suggested we go to Hamilton and see for ourselves, and then if it were impassible, to just hike locally and stay on the western side. No one had gone the Southern route, and we also met a few hikers who had turned away from the "mini glacier" because they felt it was impassible. We made the decision, then, to take the southern detour, through Redwood Meadow, Pinto Lake, over Black Rock Pass, and eventually end up at Big Arroyo. If we chanced going to Hamilton, we may end back up at Bearpaw anyway, and we would have lost a day for nothing, making the entire HST impossible to complete on time.

Overall
Miles: 10.1

Elevation start: 6680

Elevation end: 7680
Elevation gain/loss: +1680/-680
Campsites: many, all dirt, fairly level
Water: faucet - must be treated
Toilet: 2 outhouses (no TP)
Bear storage lockers: Y
Privacy: N

Day One Hashtags:

#stupidfuckinrope

#nodenyingtherope

#cougardeer

#bearhuff

#outhousedooropen

#iceflow

#iceriver

#icewall

#icefield

#microglacier

#miniglacier

#nanoglacier

#icetunnelcollapse